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Counselors

For general information regarding the maintainance of your credential, please see the Recertification page.

The CE requirement for NCCs is 100 continuing education clock hours in each (five year) certification cycle. One CE clock hour is defined as 50-60 minutes of time during which you are in contact with the learning event or instrument.

Be careful not to confuse CEUs and all other types of CE credit. The term CEU is often misused. It is not the same as a clock hour. One real CEU is actually worth 10 clock hours. Here is an example of correct usage: You attend a four day conference and 23 clock hours of workshops. Your certificate would be correct if it said EITHER 23 CE clock hours OR 2.3 CEUs. If your certificate said 2.3 CEUs you would have to multiply times 10 to get the 23 hours you were actually at the conference.

NOTE: If your certificate said (incorrectly) 23 CEUs, you should NOT multiply times 10 to claim 230 clock hours of CE credit for that conference. Don't make this mistake. NCCs who have made this mistake assumed they had way more hours than they actually did and so came up short at recertification time.

• 23 CE contact hours = 23 CE clock hours
• 23 CE credits = 23 CE clock hours
• 23 CE credit hours = 23 clock hours
• 23 CE's = 23 CE clock hours

• One academic semester hour (or semester credit) = 15 CE clock hours
• One academic quarter hour (or quarter credit) = 10 CE clock hours

Activities taken for recertification credit need not be from an NBCC approved provider. However, the activities must fall under one of the following content areas OR be counted under "non-related" activities, which are limited to 20 hours per certification period. See the Recertification page for details

Continuing education activities taken for recertification credit must focus on increasing knowledge and/or skills in one or more of the areas listed below.

Approved topics in the area include: historic and well-established contemporary counseling theories, principles and techniques of counseling and their application to professional settings; information on the use of the current edition of the DSM; diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders; the mind-body connection and its applications in the counseling setting; psychopharmacology and the role and effect of psychotropic medications in mental health; burn-out prevention designed for helping professionals; counselor self-understanding designed for mental health professionals; crisis/disaster counseling; mediation or coaching training designed for mental health professionals.

Approved topics in this area include: the nature and needs of individuals at all developmental levels; normal and abnormal human behavior; personality theory; life-span theory; learning theory; and end-of life issues.

Approved topics in this area include: societal changes and trends; human roles; societal subgroups; social mores and interaction patterns; multicultural and pluralistic trends; social or cultural issues affecting individuals, couples and families; differing lifestyles; major societal concerns, including violence, poverty, terrorism, stress, person abuse, substance abuse, religious/spiritual issues, and discrimination; and, methods for alleviating such concerns.

Approved topics in this area include: group development, dynamics and counseling theories; group counseling leadership styles; basic and advanced group counseling methods and skills; other group counseling approaches; theories of family counseling; family dynamics and roles of family members; and addictions group counseling.

Approved topics in this area include: career developmental theories; occupational and educational information sources and systems; career and leisure counseling, guidance and education; lifestyle, career and retirement decision-making; career development program planning, resources and effectiveness evaluation; worker behavior and adjustment; and workplace issues affecting worker performance and behavior.

Approved topics in this area include: group and individual educational and psychometric theories, and approaches to appraisal; data and information gathering methods; psychometric statistics; factors influencing appraisals; administering appraisal instruments and interpreting appraisal results in helping processes; and, legal issues affecting counselor rights to administer and interpret tests and inventories that assess psychopathology, abilities, interests, and career options.

Approved topics in this area include: types of academic and professional research; basic statistics; research-report development; research implementation; counseling program evaluation; needs assessment in the counseling setting; publication of counseling research information; and, ethical and legal considerations in counseling research.

Approved topics in this area include: philosophic bases of the helping processes; professional roles and functions; professional goals and objectives; professional organizations and associations; professional history and trends; ethical and legal standards; professional preparation standards; professional credentialing in mental health; federal and state laws and regulations affecting counselors; practice management issues for mental health professionals; the counselor as professional consultant; administration and management of counseling programs; clinical supervision of mental health professionals.

Includes total clock hours earned through multiple sessions which earned several NBCC approved content areas. Examples (under this content area) would include ACA national conferences and a series of in-service sessions covering many topics.

No limit. Courses may be audited. Transcript, grade report, or verification form required for documentation.

No limit. Certificate, verification form, or letter verifying attendance required for documentation.

Limit of 20 clock hours for this entire category.

• Publication activities are limited to articles in referred journals, a chapter in an edited book, or a published book. Required documentation for publication credit is a copy of the cover page of the article or book. For the chapter in an edited book, include a copy of the table of contents.
• Presentations may be used only once in a five-year period. Only actual presentation time may be counted. This option is for presentations that were developed in previous five year cycles but presented in the current one. A letter from the sponsor or professional colleague, and a summary of the evaluations from the events are required documentation.
• New Program Development includes a new course, seminar, workshop, or community program development. New courses may be graduate or undergraduate but must be at regionally-accredited colleges or universities. Documentation must include a new course proposal and syllabus or a letter from the department chair. New school, hospital, or agency in-service programs, hospital mental health team designs, or extensive community outreach systems may also be submitted. All such submissions must include documents, dated proposals, and supporting materials.

Limit of 45 clock hours. List the dates for which credit was granted by your college or university for work done toward the completion of your dissertation. List the title of your dissertation and the name of your college or university. A copy of the transcript or title page of the dissertation is required for documentation.

Limit of 25 clock hours. Recertification credit can only be granted for supervision/consultation received on a regular basis with a set agenda. Recertification credit cannot be granted for supervision which you provide to others. List the start and end dates of the period in which the supervision occurred. Under supervision, list the site where supervision was provided. List the name of the supervisor. A letter from the supervisor is required for documentation. Supervision for academic credit should be listed under coursework. A maximum of 45 contact hours can be granted in a five-year period for supervision taken for academic credit. This supervision must appear on your transcript or grade report.

Limit of 20 clock hours. List the start and end dates of the period in which the leadership occurred. Under leadership list the names of the organization. Name the position held. The following leadership positions are acceptable for recertification credit: Officers of state or national counseling organization; editor of professional counseling journals; member of state counseling licensure/certification board; member of a national counselor certification board; member of a national ethics disciplinary review committee rendering licenses,; certification or professional membership; active member of a counseling committee producing a substantial written product; chair of a major counseling conference or convention; other leadership positions with justifiable professional learning experiences. The leadership positions must take place for a minimum of one year after the date of first certification. A letter from the organization with the dates and type of service is the required documentation.

No limit. NCCs are allowed to take all or any portion of the 100 required continuing education clock hours through home study programs. The same standards for selecting live programs apply to selecting home study programs. That is, they do not have to be NBCC approved, but they must meet NBCC guidelines for continuing education.

Limit of 20 hours. NBCC allows NCCs to claim up to 20 hours of continuing education that do not meet the guidelines as long as the NCC submits proof of attendance plus a written statement regarding how the activity assists them in their direct service of their clients. Examples include: language courses, software training, medical topics, etc.

For NCCs who attend events where no certificate of attendance is provided by the sponsor or where the cost of the certificate is considered to be excessive, you may substitute the form below. Note that you will need either the sponsor or a professional colleague to complete the form for you.

Click here to download and print the form.